The gentle curve of the hillside draws me forward. With each step I see more of this grassland and more of Okanagan Lake’s northern reach. Here I am, on a random ecological walk, just twenty blocks from Kelowna’s downtown. This is Knox Mountain Park, in a remnant piece of Okanagan sublime. As I start on the trail, I’m on a dry and rocky southwest face. I see sagebrush and cactus, reminders of our ecological connection to the Great Basin desert biome and distant places like eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. Farther along the curving footpath I reunite with my signature Okanagan landscape trinity: bluebunch wheatgrass, arrowleaf balsamroot, and ponderosa pine. Still farther along the footpath come subtle ecological changes. As the hill’s aspect gently shifts from southwest to northwest, I…
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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 56.1 Spring 2023